Join the circle
by Joannwriting
Summary: Joann, a vampire working for circle Daybreak, finds her soulmate, but he's on the other side. please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

I became a vampire by accident. M supposed "boy friend" went to far, and to save me he had to turn me. He told my parents that I had died in car accident. I never got to say goodbye. As soon as I woke up I left him.

I traveled to L.A. in search of others who were like me, when I heard about circle Daybreak, I jumped at the chance. It was perfect. There was only one problem, I didn't have a soul mate. Sure they let me in, they needed all the help they could get, but I was never part of the "in" crowd. And that's where my story starts.

"Yo, Jo." I turned to find Kelly in my doorway. She was half shifted between her human and cheetah forms.

"what's up?" I ask.

"poppy and the others need to see you, say its urgent, probably about cleaning up the city pests."

"tell them I'll be there in a second." She nods and bounds off.

Shrugging into my sweats and a tight black long-sleeve, I head out to the main sitting room of the safe house.

Entering the room I can tell something is wrong. Faces are drawn tight and the tension in the air is almost palpable.

They nod to an empty chair.

Plopping down into the offered chair I ask, "what can I do for you now?"

"Jo, we've been having some problems with Redferns people sneaking around the city, they're looking for us. So far the wards have kept us covered, but we need someone to go and wipe them out. you understand, Joann?"

I nod, they only use my full name when it's serious.

"good, we've got a few werewolves you can use to help you, and your friend Kelly if you want. Start right away and report back to us when you are done."

Standing up carefully I speed out of the room. My throat is starting to ache, a sure sigh that I am hungry. " not now" I tell my body, but the burning only gets more intense. I need to stop by they library and grab some maps of the area, but before that I'll stop at the kitchen.

"Kelly!" I call into her room. It takes a moment for her furry head to peak through. "I need you now, we have a job to do."

"Kay, be right there.

"you'll have to shift to human, you know how the werewolves go nuts around you."

she sighs, 'I hate working with werewolves, they're such a bother, and they stink!" her fur rippled and she stood in front of me, twisting a stray piece of blonde hair out of her face.

I ignore her complaints. "I'll grab the wolves and you grab some maps of the area, meet me at the gates in fifteen minutes."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kelly was waiting at the gate. With five werewolves in tow we set out upon the city. We looked like a raucous band of regular human kids, except we weren't.

The first we spotted was a vampire, leaning against a wall. I nodded to the wolf on my left, and he left the group, saying that he had to get home for dinner. He walked right by the vampire and into the building. Had you been looking you would have noticed his head appear in a window over the vampire's head.

We continued on, only twice more using the people that we had brought. "Lets head home." I said finally. We split up and branch off into different directions. We will meet at a house at the edge of town, to make sure that we don't have any trailers.

The sun has just set, and all my senses are heightened. I can smell the dinner of the house on my right wafting through the air. My stomach rumbles and my throat burns. I'm hungry again.

I sense the danger and instant before it strikes. A long tall vampire springs out of the shadows of an ally. I duck and roll to avoid the stake pointed at my heart. My fingers fumble within my bag, searching for the weapon inside.

We circle warily around each other. He springs, like a coil releasing, just as my hands find the stake in my bag. I jam it upwards, into the oncoming body, and whirl away.

He rises slowly. I must have just missed his heart, but not by much. The copper tang of blood fills the air, coming from the blood oozing down his shirt.

This time I make the move. Knowing his left is already bad; I feint there and jab at his right shoulder. His hand comes up so fast I don't have time to react. His steel grip is slowly crushing the bones in my wrist. His left arm hangs useless, so propping me against his him, he throws me to the ground.

Blinking rapidly I try to clear the red dots that crowd my vision. And then he is on top of me. His stake lies over my heart, a steady pressure. "Tell me were the house is." His voice is but a mere whisper.

"Never!" I gasp. I slowly reach out with my finger, feeling for my weapon that I dropped nearby.

He presses the stick harder, drawing blood. "Tell me you fool! Or I'll kill you right now." He spits.

"I would never tell a piece of vermin like you." I spit back, and now the stick I have pulled into my fingers goes through his back and punctures his heart.

Scrambling out from underneath the already mummifying body, I wipe my hand on my pants. I drag the body to an ally and throw it into a dumpster.

Judging by the position of the stars, I'm really late. Kelly is going to have a fit. Tossing my pack over my shoulder, I head home.


	3. Chapter 3

When I arrived home, Kelly blew up! "Where were you? Didn't you think to contact any of us?" I walked strait past her and into my room, stripping off my dirty and torn clothes and throwing on new ones.

I look up to find Kelly's golden eyes staring at me. "What happened." It's not even a question the way she says it.

"I ran into a loner. He was working for them, I took care of him, though if he had had any sense he would have stayed hidden until I got to the house." I say to myself.

She sighs and shakes her head.

We both jump when my cell phone rings. I reach up and grab it off the dresser. "Hello. Shaggy! How's it going?"

"Boss I've got them all. They're having a meeting on fourth and Gregory Street, right by the park. I need you here now!"

Snapping shut the phone, I nod to Kelly. "We've got a job to do. Go round up the werewolves."

Dressed in black and armed up to our noses, we arrive at the park, shaggy motions to us from behind a bush. I slide in beside him. He points to a small clearing were ten vampires are gathered. They're voice are soft and hard to hear.

"I'm going closer." Shimmying up a tree, a leap from branch to branch, until I'm hovering in the shadows. They're voices rise up to me.

"Any more leads?"

"We found Walter dead in sector six. Defiantly a vampires work, but they disappeared.

"I found a werewolf trailing me, I disposed of him."

"Nothing new on the whereabouts of the house, but I found some witches who might be able to help us."

I turn and motion for the other. They circle around the whole clearing. On my signal, we leap in.

I find the nearest vampire, and stake him before he knows what's happening. Already, though, the group is on there feet. I find the leader and chase after him. His dull blond hair is streaked with dirt, but his green eyes glow with a fierce fire.

"Come to find you death?" he growls.

I leap at him, aiming for the knees. He blocks and swipes me away. I'm up fast enough to avoid the second strike, but the first catches me in the shoulder, drawing blood. Switching my stick to my left hand, I face him. We lunge at the same moment. Block, block, feint, strike jab. We go through the motions as though practicing, whirling around the field.

Grabbing my hand to stop a strike, we freeze. My sleeve had been pulled up and we are now touching, skin on skin.

I collapse to the ground as white fire races through my mind. And then I hear his voice.

"What is going on?! Let me out so we can fight!"

I know he can see my mind, but his is blocked by a roiling storm of anger and fear.

"Don't you get it?" I ask in a small voice. "We're soul mates."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"No!" with that single word I'm thrown out of his mind and back into reality. His hand has moved from my wrist to my throat, squeezing with and iron grip.

"You try anymore magicking. And I will stake you." He growls, "No more magic, we fight strait up, no trickery."

This was not how I imagined meeting my soul mate.

"Now get up!"

Slowly, I rise to my feet. Tension runs through his body like an electric current, and I realize, he is scared. He has absolutely no idea what just happened to him. He thinks I'm tricking him into something.

Jarring pain in my thigh tells me to pay attention. The wound is already starting to heal slightly, but blood is still gushing all over. The grass is red and slick. The coppery tang of blood permeates the air. The smell makes my pangs slide out, pushing into my lower lip. My vision sharpens. All my senses are heightened. I am ready for a hunt.

Our sticks meet in midair, a popping sound reverberating through the area from the force. We begin our deadly dance again. There is only one difference. This time, I am the one striking, taking risks, pushing foreword. I back him up, until he is pressed tight against the large trunk of an old oak. There is no time to climb.

"As they always say, 'you play with fire; you're going to get burned.'" I raise my hand for the death blow, but I can't strike. My hand is frozen in midair. Lowering my hand, I press my stick into his shirt, right above his heart.

"Hey Kelly!" I call over my shoulder, "bring me some rope."

A golden cheetah trots over and hand me the rope. I take it from her mouth, and turn to my victim. "thanks." She blinks in response.

Tying his hands and gagging him, I haul him to the middle of the clearing and throw him on the ground. We have caught or killed the rest of them.

Kelly and the wolves gather around me. "Let's drug 'em up and bring them back to base."

The safe house we stay in is very large, but it's disguised by strong magic to look like a regular old home.

We brought the three vampires we had captured and locked them in separate cells. Over the next few weeks they would go through a series of interrogations. Right now, though, none of that was very important. I had to find Poppy; she would know what to do.

I found her in the library.

"I need you help!" I think I found my soul mate, but I'm not sure, well I am sure, but I don't know what to do! I'm really confused. He's from Redfern's group, and he hates me, doesn't want to believe that I'm his soul mate." I wail. I must sound like an annoying child to her.

Poppy doesn't seem to care. She folds her legs under her and asks me to have a seat and explain everything that happened. She never once interrupts and when I'm done, she says

"Yep, that sounds like the soul mate principle. Just be patient and get to know him. Always remember that you are destined to be together.

They have told us nothing. They refuse to talk event with treats of death and torture. I'm afraid we may have to use torture to get anything out of them.

I'm in a rage. Throwing pillows and whatever I can get my hands on around the room. My clock shatters into a million pieces and I relish it.

My mind is stick on a continuous tape of the interrogation, a broken record.

"Why don't you give up? You will be free and we can be together." I plead with him.

"I hate you! I would rather die than kneel to you." He spits.

His name is Briar. He is breathtakingly handsome and evil to the bone.


	5. Chapter 5

_This is just a scene in between two big one to show you what is going on. The next chapter holds all the action and drama, so please keep reading._

_Thanks!_

Chapter 5

We are interrogating, again. They are refusing to talk, again. This time though, we have new orders. Inflict as much pain as you need.

I have started with one of his cronies. I couldn't bring myself to question him. If it came to using a weapon, I would not be able to follow through. So instead, I'm having Kelly question him, and I'm stuck with Marco.

He sits in a huddled lump in his chair. Shaggy black hair casts shadows on his fuming face. His lips are drawn in a pout, his ice blue eyes like ragged shards of glass, spell anger and hate.

"So how did you get recruited for this mission?" I ask.

He remains infuriatingly silent. Taking my stick, I jab it quickly into his clenched hand. A gasp of pain ensues, and if looks could kill I would be slaughtered right now. But still he holds his silence.

I aim higher up, into his forearm. Gritted teeth grind tighter with a screeching sound.

"Now, do you have any family?"

"A brother." Those two short words are miraculous. I push a little harder.

"Tell me everything you know about him."

"He was changed when I was little. Haven't seen him since."

"That's too bad, where did you live if you didn't have a mother?"

"A run down drafty house. But now I live in an old mansion." His eyes widen, and he snaps his mouth shut, drawing inward visibly, as he realizes what he just said. But I have what I need.

"Thanks for telling me all about you family." I say sweetly as I throw him into his cell.

Now that we have some info, we have started our search. Informants all over the country have started looking for hidden mansions. There is an old one located in our city, but it has already been thoroughly checked, with no sign of being contaminated of hosting any of Redfern's people.

Feverishly, we question all the others, but nothing has been spilled. They remain silent, teeth clenched, shoulders hunched, as though reminding themselves that they are not allowed to talk to us. They refuse even to acknowledge our presence. The best we get is some training on how to shoot icy glares.

I suspect that they have been commuting behind our backs, and I have reason to believe that Briar is leading it all.

All I can say is that one of them better speak up quickly, because I'm getting impatient. And worse will come to worse, if I have to stay like this.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I wake up to the smell of smoke, the crackle of fire, and the screeching of alarms. Smoke clogs the airs and flames leaps at the door. Alarms and red lights flash in the back round making an eerie effect.

Leaping out of bed I throw on my jacket, grabbing my stick, look out my open door, smudged shadows scurry around the halls. Slipping into my shoes, I run into the hallway. A chaotic mix of vampires, animals and witches run through the corridor. They seem to have most things under control. I need to check on the prisoners, make sure they aren't burning up as I stood there.

Loping of in the direction of the cells, I see a fuzzy golden head slip through the river of bodies. Kelly had the same idea.

Running down the concrete stairs, I burst into the cellar, and stop short. Kelly careens into me.

The sight in front of me is not good, not good at all. Three cells doors lay swinging wide open and the fourth and fifth have a splintered gaping mouth in the middle. On the floor, an unconscious witch lies face down in a pool of spilled blood. The keys dangle cheerfully from the third door.

Our captives have escaped.

Darting back up the stairs I stop at the top. The flames have been doused, but the watery echo of the alarms still ring down the halls.

"Everyone stop!" I scream at the top of my voice. All movement slows. "The captive have escaped. I need a party to come with me and help to round the up. I need another to set up defenses around the house. Tell anyone else who you see. Now half of you follow me!"

Leaping out the door, I don't wait to see if anyone is following. A group of humans have formed around the house, peering anxiously into the open door. They scatter when they see us coming, leaving a wide open path.

I turn to the werewolf next to me. "Locate their trail!"

A large black nose hits the pavement and starts to frantically sniff about. I stretch my hearing to the limits, but can not locate anything.

With a whine, the wolf beckons toward a dark ally; we turn and run after him.

After ten minutes, we have been led back to the park where this all began. The wolf pulls up and shifts back to human form. "It stops here boss." He whines

"Spread out and search the area. They're bound to be here somewhere."

Fanning out we turn to search the area,

And find ourselves encased by thirty glowing eyes. They emerge from the shadows, Briar at the head of the group. He laughs, a cadence surrounded with beauty and evil.

"I see you fell for our little trap." He cackles. "To bad you won't be able to tell all your petty little friends about it back home." With a twitch of his finger we are thrown into a fight to save our lives.

A screaming fury of howling noise surrounds us. I am thrown against a nearby pine tree. Picking myself up, I find myself facing Marco, the one who slipped earlier. He holds a silver knife dripping with blood, and tucks it into his belt. Pulling out a sharpened stick, he attacks, pinning me against the tree.

"Today is the day you die." He says with an Italian accent.

"In your dreams." I growl, and thrust my stick upward, off balancing him and allowing me to escape. He scrambles to his feet, and faces me, and ugly grin pasted on his face.

We dance a deadly dance, swinging blows and jabs around with careless, deadly ease. I am older, stronger, faster, and better trained, in the end, he makes a small mistake and I stake him through the heart.

I look for my next target, and am dismayed by the overwhelming numbers they have produced. This battle can't go on for much longer.

Kelly is pinned under a vampire's arms, squirming back and forth trying to free herself. I knock the man off guard, and Kelly squirms away.

"Run and get reinforcements, and hurry." She scampers off, and I distract the man she was dueling.

The battle has passed in a blur. I have fought countless fights, and still, the reinforcements have not come. The trail of my defeated enemies lies behind me, and only the notion that I may become one of them fuels me on.

And then they have come. Slipping in through the shadows, they overtake the rest of our enemies. Fueling the last remaining few to keep fighting. Our reinforcements have come.

All of a sudden, I am facing him. His tousled blond hair and green eyes just as always. Still filled with hate, and still completely handsome.

Glancing at me warily, he makes the first contact. Ducking, the blade whistles over my head. I feint at his stomach, and jab at his right shoulder. His blade swings up and blocks my strike. I have forgotten how fast he is.

We continue to dance back and forth, but I'm beginning to tire. My legs drag, and my blocks are slow. A burning thirst grips my throat, distracting my attention.

Inch by precious inch, he is backing me up, toward the stand of trees behind me. There he will pin me and kill me.

Tripping over an upraised root, I fall to the ground. His sword thrust right where my heart would have been. He glares down at me in surprise.

"Stand and fight." He growls.

I shake my head. I cannot, I don't have the strength. Closing my eyes, I spread my arms and wait for the inevitable. But it doesn't come. There is no stinging pain that brings the end. There is the cool touch of a spring breeze on my exposed throat.

Slowly, I open my eyes. He is standing there, staring in disbelief at his hand. He stick has been dropped to the ground. Turning to look at me, his golden eyes collide with my brown ones. Something opens. We are jolted into a golden world, standing across from each other. Trembling, my knees collapse, and he rushes over and picks me up, cradling me in his arms.

"I love you." He murmurs, almost in disbelief, tousling my black hair.

"I love you too." I whisper back. "We belong together."

"We will always be together." he promises.


	7. Epilouge

Epilogue

After I brought Briar home, Circle daybreak put him on probation. Most of them didn't want to believe that he had actually turned to the good side. Poppy did though, she stood up for us. I feel as though the icy layer that had encased his heart before has melted. Yeah, I'm still a little cautious, but I can see into his mind, while other people can't, and I know that he would never harm me or my friends.

Finally we got fed up with being watched all the time. So we took a vacation. We packed up all our stuff and headed out to Hot Springs, Colorado. We spent most of the time between the springs and skiing, just enjoying our time together. We have become closer with each passing day, both through our minds and our experiences.

I think that we will keep moving around, until we are ready to settle down, and then maybe we'll rejoin circle day break, but for now, we've made our own little circle of two, and I'm at the very center of it.

Johann Belafonte

_Note: I ended it like this because if you look back at the beginning, you'll ready that she had never been part of the main circle, and now she is._


End file.
